Malcolm X was a powerful black man who stood up for black nationalism, and was a developer in articulating an effective self-defense against white violence. Malcolm X advocated freedom for blacks by any means necessary. This involved the use of violence towards the white community. He felt that it was up to the black society to end this problem. When Malcolm returned from his visit to Mecca, his whole views about whites changed. In this paper, I tend to examine Malcolm's views about the white man after he returns from the holy city of Mecca, in Saudi Arabia.
Malcolm was arrested for robbery in February 1946, and sentenced to prison for seven years. When he was in prison, he had a prejudice against the Christian religion that he thought was a tool of the white society to keep the Negroes down. This led him to the perception that there must be a religion for the black people. Malcolm X consequentially seeks an education and through his readings and new found religion, the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X finds self-pride. He starts to become proud of who he is and where he came from. He realizes that before, all he was trying to do was act like someone he wasn't and all it had gotten him was seven years in prison. After Malcolm X left jail, he believed that the black man was superior to the white man and the white man was simply the devil.
"They called me a teacher, a fomentor of violence. I would say point blank, That is a lie. I'm not for wanton violence, I'm for justice. I feel that if white people were attacked by Negroes-if the forces of law prove unable, or inadequate, or reluctant to protect those whites from those Negroes then those white people should protect and defend themselves from those Negroes, using arms if necessary. And I feel that when the law fails to protect Negroes from whites' attack then those Negroes should use arms, if necessary, to defend themselves.'.'I am speaking against and my fight is against white racists.
